• You need to continue to confirm your eligibility for the additional hours, every three months on your account. If you don't do this, you may be putting your funded childcare place at risk.
• HMRC will manage the application process and send out reminders to parents about the need to reconfirm their eligibility and how to do this. You will receive a text and/or email four weeks before your reconfirmation deadline. This will prompt you to log into your Childcare Service account
• In the account, you must go to 'secure messages'. You can access this section at any time. The section on reconfirmation will inform you of your reconfirmation date.
• You can reconfirm your eligibility code up to four weeks before your reconfirmation date.
  
• The eligibility code or a parent/child combination will not change over time even if its validity lapses and a new application is submitted.
  

For example:

Code expired 24th February 2018, Grace period expired 31st March 2018. Reconfirmation completed on 5th April 2018.

This code is then no longer eligible for a Summer Term place (April to July) as the code has been issued after the grace period deadline of March 31st 2018.

What happens if a parents’ circumstances change?

If a parents’ circumstances change and they are no longer eligible for the additional 15 hours of free childcare, they will receive a message in their account to say that their eligibility has ended.

The place will then move into a ‘grace period’.

In the ‘grace period’, the funding for the place will be extended for a limited time, in order that the parent can reapply to HMRC if their circumstances change to become eligible again or make alternative arrangements for childcare.

If you're no longer eligible, you can still use the 15-hour universal early education place that all 3 and 4-year-olds are entitled to.

What happens if a parent does not reconfirm their eligibility on time?

If a parent does not reconfirm on time before the end of the three-month period, their 30 hour place is automatically moved into the grace period. If a parent has still not reconfirmed by the end of the grace period, the voucher becomes inactive and funding for the place ceases. If a parent reapplies after the grace period and their eligibility is re-confirmed, they may have to wait until the start of the next term for funding to be assigned to the reactivated code.